How Honda redefined the café racer revolution of the swinging sixties

Dust off that
leather jacket, get your hair gel at the ready, and join us as we cruise into
the weird and wonderful world of café racers, beginning in swinging sixties
London and culminating with this year’s release of not one, but three new Honda
Neo Sports Café motorcycles: the CB1000R, CB300R and the CB125R.

Café racer

noun

1. A lightweight, lightly
powered motorcycle optimised for speed and handling rather than comfort – and
for quick rides over short distances. Developed among British motorcycle enthusiasts of the early 1960s from Watford
and London, specifically the Rocker or
"Ton-Up Boys" subculture, where the bikes were used for short, quick
rides between cafés.

In the 1960s,
café racers were some of the sexiest, nimblest and downright coolest motorcycles to hit the streets
since, well, motorcycles. But in the years following, café racing ground to a
halt. This year, however, café racing
is back, sexier, nimbler and hipper than ever thanks to the release of
three new Honda motorcycles, each inspired by the ‘true’ café racers of the
1960s.

Rockers and racers

Café racing can
be traced back to 1960s London. Its birthplace: a small roadside pit-stop in London known as the Ace
Café. Apart from offering the latest rock ’n’ roll around-the-clock from the
likes of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry, the café had another,
more ‘unique’ function: serving as the de-facto HQ for badass bikers.

Ace Café’s current
owner, Mark Wilsmore, recalls watching these leather-clad bikers arrive by the
hundreds, each sporting his own custom café racer: A tricked-out, stripped-back bike built for speed.

According to Geoff
Baldwin, founder of the ‘Return of the Café Racers’ website, a café racer was
a custom creation devoid of excess – that is, a bike stripped of its ‘non-essential’
components: rims, frames and exhausts. Why? One word: speed.

Japanese takeover

Dropped handlebars,
swept-back pipes and rearward located seats were regular fixtures, but the dream
was to reach that magic 100mph mark – otherwise known as ‘Ton Up’. To increase
their chances, many racers went so far as to bash dents in their fuel tanks to
enable ‘tucking in’ for enhanced aerodynamics. Fast-forward fifty years and
Honda’s new lineup of café racers all feature minimalist styling and textured
metal finishes. No bashing required. Thankfully.

Although they’d
dominated at the start of the decade, the obsession with British-made motors began
to wane in the late ’60s: “Fast engines, like Honda’s, had come along,”
Wilsmore says. “And that changed everything.”

Indeed, Honda, the
most successful team in Isle of Man TT history, started the ’50s as underdogs.
But they closed out the decade in first, second, third and fifth position in
both the 125cc and 250cc classes. Read all about it here.

“While
British manufacturers were struggling to stay afloat in the ’60s, Honda
was making history,” says Baldwin. “Success in the Isle of Man TT and World GP
series had wannabe racers champing at the bit for a similar bike, and models
like the legendary CB750 were prime candidates for a café racer build.”

The four-cylinder, four-muffler engine
structure was a Grand Prix staple. And the bike’s reputation stepped up a gear or
two after a one-two domination in the Suzuka
10-hour Endurance Race, followed by a victory in the 1970 AMA Daytona 200-Mile
Race. The new Hondas packed a punch, and it wasn’t long before British bike
builders wanted a taste of the action.

Honda
domination

When it comes to café racers, no one knows
more than the ‘unwritten godfather of the café racer’, Dave Degens. The
engineering prodigy was a regular at the Ace Café, and, like many in his
position, transitioned into Japanese machines once Honda hit the heights. One
bike he developed with Honda actually clocked 184mph – or close to two tonnes, for
you rockers.

Likewise, Rickman Motorcycles, run by
brothers Don and Derek, Dunstall Motorcycles and Harris performance made the
move to Honda engines. You couldn’t be considered a true café racer without
dipping into the aftermarket parts market. Feather-light body kits, chunky
exhausts and the latest brakes were big business. In only a few short years, the
scene’s early pace setters were forgotten – and Honda ruled the streets
once again.

“Honda’s racing success proved their
motorcycles could offer superior handling and power,” says Baldwin, and
though it would take a decade or more, demand for frames and custom petrol
tanks would also fade in the wake of a new breed of bike.

Café
racers today

But what started out as a thriving
underground movement soon reached saturation point, and café racing came
grinding to a halt in the 1980s.

“Originally, café racers were made by
transplanting powerful engines into superior frames, thus allowing people
to create machines that were faster than those sold by the manufacturers,”
says Baldwin. “But as frame design, suspension and brakes improved, the need to
replace these items lessened.”

Which brings us to 2018, and Honda is getting
ready to kick-start a new café racing revolution with the release of three new motorcycles:
the CB1000R, CB300R and CB125R.
The biggest, and by all accounts, baddest, is the Honda CB1000R Neo Sports
Café. Its exposed innards, four-cylinder engine and featherweight frame all
serve as a gushing homage to ’60s and ’70s café racing. But don’t be fooled by
the neo-retro styling; this bike is a beast to behold
– a 998cc DOHC four-cylinder engine, 143.5bhp @ 10,500rpm and 104Nm @ 8,250rpm.

“[The CB1000R] is no different to what custom
builders were doing when they transplanted modern forks onto their old
CB750s,” says Baldwin. “The result is a sincerer motorcycle that embraces what
it is, rather than attempting to disguise it.”

Times have changed, rock ’n’ roll has
changed, but thanks to Honda’s new
lineup, café racing lives on.